Starter for vapor electric apparatus.



PATBNTED JULY 5, 1904.

0. W. DENNY. STARTER FOR VAPOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27. 1904.

K0 MODEL.

1/91 finesse o such as mercury-vapor lamps or the like, by

UNITED STATES CHARLES WVAMPLE DENNY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO COOPER Patented July 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HEI/VITT ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

STARTER FOR VAPOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 764,181, dated July 5, 1904:.

Application filed January 27, 1904:.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES VVAMPLE DENNY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Starters for Vapor Electric Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

It has been proposed to start a flow of current through gas or vapor electric apparatus,

a slight tipping or tilting of the container forming the main body of the apparatus, whereby a conducting fluid, such as mercury, is caused to pass from one electrode inside the container to another along the bottom of the container, thereby establishing a continuous path of conducting material between the electrodes and afterward establishing the flow of current through the vapor by causing a rupture of the described conducting path, usually under the influence of gravity. This principle has been applied to vapor apparatus in which one of the electrodes was of solid material, such as iron, and the other of a conducting liquid, such as mercury.

It has further been proposed to construct the apparatus in such a Way that the solid electrode should be surrounded by a small condensing-chamber and the liquid electrode by a comparatively large condensing-chamber. In order to insure contact between the solid electrode and the conducting liquid while the latter was in a position to bridge the two electrodes, provision has been made for constructing the solid electrode so that it should nearly fill the small condensing-chamber which surrounds it. In some instances this may be an undesirable feature.

The present invention provides for the making of the solid conductor in the form of a slitted cup having a series of fingers, one of which is bent outward, so as to make contact with the conducting liquid at the time when it is adapted to bridge the electrodes. It will be understood that for the purposes of the present invention a single finger thus bent outward would be sufiicient to accomplish the desired result.

Serial No. 190,788- (No model.)

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mercuryvapor lamp adapted to be started in the manner above described, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, 1 represents a tubular chamber having a small enlargement 2 at one end and a comparatively large enlargement or chamber 3 at the other end. Within the enlargement 2 is located a solid electrode 4, which may be made of soft iron or other suitable material. The said electrode is supported upon a leading-in conductor 5, passing through the wall of the chamber.

In the present instance I have shown the ing formed into cup shape. The other electrode consists of a body of mercury. (shown at 8,) which in the normal operation of the lamp' is located within the chamber 3. A leading-in conductor 9 passes through an extension 10 from this chamber and makes contact with the mercury.

The lamp described may be operated in any position; but it is especially intended to be operated in a nearly horizontal position and be supported in a frame 11, capable of being tilted by any suitable means.

In starting the lamp the apparatus may be tipped, so that sulficient mercury will flow from the chamber 3to the chamber 2 to cause the mercury to make contact with one of the fingers 12, which is bent outward from the main body of the cup-electrode. When the device is tipped back toward its normal position, a flow of mercury takes place from the said electrode to the mercury in contact with the leading-in conductor 9, whereby a flow of current from one electrode to the other is established through the stream of mercury. By the eflects of gravity this stream flowing along the bottom of the tube 1 is finally disrupted, and current is caused to pass through the vapor, which is thus caused to intervene between the adjacent terminals of the flowing stream. This flow of current through the vapor gradelectrode as being made of thin soft iron slitted so as to form fingers and thewhole beually extends itself as the break in the stream grows wider and finally is established through the entire vapor path between the solid electrode 4: and the liquid electrode 8.

While the device has been described more particularly with reference to its use as a lamp, it will be understood that the present invention is also applicable to vapor apparatus whether used as a lamp, current-rectifier, circuit-breaker, or for any other purpose.

By having the condensing-chamber at the mercury electrode the condensed mercury which forms upon its surface falls directly into the corresponding electrode and need not, therefore, be returned from the other end of the tube in the form of condensed mercury.

It will be understood that it is not always necessary that all of the mercury which is temporarily caused to flow toward the solid electrode should be returned immediately to the fluid electrode, as more or less of it may remain in the bottom of the enlargement 2 without disturbing the operation of the device.

The enlarged view, Fig. 2, clearly shows the solid electrode 4 in detail.

I claim as my invention 1. A metal electrode for vapor electric apparatus, consisting of a sheet-metal cup having its sides formed of lips or flanges, one of which is bent outward.

2. The combination with a Vapor electric apparatus having asuitable chamber, of asolid electrode supported therein, the said solid electrode being provided with a lip or finger bent outward into proximity to the wall of the chamber.

3. A vapor electric apparatus having asolid electrode and a liquid electrode, and being adapted to be operated in an approximately horizontal position, of means for causing a flow of liquid conducting material from the solid electrode to the liquid electrode along the bottom'of the container, the said solid electrode being provided with a lip or finger which is bent outward into the path of the said liquid.

4. In a vapor electric apparatus, asuitable container, a liquid electrode and a solid electrode, a receptacle for the liquid electrode located on one side of the said container, and a projecting lip extending from the solid electrode and located on the same side of the container.

5. In a vapor electric apparatus, a suitable container, a liquid electrode and a solid electrode, a receptacle for the liquid electrode located on one side of the said container, and a projecting lip extending from the solid electrode and located on the same side of the container, the mass of the liquid being sufficient to bridge the space between the electrode-receptacle and the lip or finger when the apparatus is arranged in a horizontal position, or when the device is in normal position.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 11th day of January, A. D. 190%.

CHARLES VVAMPLE DENNY.

WVitnesses:

WM. H. OAPEL, GEORGE H. STOCKBRIDGE. 

